Meet "Mr. America" - Steve Reeves

By Alyce Stagg

On the 29th day of June the 1947 "Mr. America" was selected in the national competition conducted by the Amateur Athletic Union at Chicago. This was indeed a memorable occasion for, in this greatest of all physique contests of the year, a modern Adonis and Hercules in the person of Steve Reeves of Oakland, California was awarded this much coveted title. Through this victory this handsome athlete attained the pinnacle of success in this field of endeavor.

Prior to this triumph the new "Mr. America" was not in the foreground in so far as national publicity was concerned. Steve Reeves deliberately discouraged opportunities for extensive publicity. Being a reserved and modest individual he did not desire an advance "build-up" before the "Mr. America" contest. Of course, we have all seen the impressive physique photos taken of Steve at major West Coast contests during the past eight months where, needless to say,, he was victorious. Aside from this publicity there has been comparatively little information released dealing with his background and athletic career simply because Steve was reluctant to have publicity of this nature appear in publications prior to the big event in Chicago. now that this event has come to pass I feel free to relate the highlights in Steve's athletic career and background knowing that he now will not object to such publicity.

The 1947 "Mr. America" was born in Montana on January 21st, 1926. Is of Welsh, Irish and German descent. his father died when he was a year and a half old. Steve attended boarding schools and spent the summer vacation months on his uncle's ranch in Montana. Learned to ride when only three years of age. As to be expected, he is an expert horseman. In fact, the extensive amount of horse back riding Steve has done is unquestionably a factor in his being small waisted and having such trim hips. The physical characteristics are found in the majority of active cowboys.

Steve and his mother moved to Oakland, California when the future "Mr. America" was approaching the teen age period. To do his share in assisting his mother financially Steve had a newspaper route when a boy. Was proud of being the only one among the newspaper boys who could pedal his bike up the steep Oakland hills with the lad of papers. The rest were obliged to walk and push the loaded bike up the hills, but Steve always made it a point to pedal up. Gives much credit to this strenuous exercise on the bike to his calf development. His calves are truly exceptional in size and contour. Even as a boy Steve was physique conscious because he would deliberately pedal his bike in a manner designed to provide the calves with the greatest amount of exercise. He cultivated an individualistic walk, too, when a boy. Lifts his foot very high onto the toes before "pushing off" for each step, and gets a lot of "lift" or spring with the toes. Walking in this manner also serves to contribute to his extra-ordinary calf development.

His activities as a newspaper boy played an important role in a number of ways in the molding of his athletic ambitions. For example, Steve claims that he developed a lot of coordination on his paper route. Used to hit even the smallest stoops with his paper tosses as he rushed down a steep hill on his bike. His throwing arm is very accurate. Steve could certainly win an abundance of prizes at the various throwing games of chance at carnivals and amusement parks.

One of the popular forms of athletic competition among the newspaper boys was wrist-wrestling. Steve succeeded in beating all boys in this group - but one! It hurt his pride that he was defeated by this lad, Joe Gambina, who was quite a bit smaller than Steve. He was rather puzzled as to why he was not able with his advantages in physical size to beat Joe in wrist-wrestling. The mystery was solved when Steve went over to Joe's house one day, and his mother said that he was "out in back working out." Steve went to the back of the house and discovered that Joe had a regular gym set up in the garage, full of weights, photos of strong men, copies of body building and weightlifting publications, and so forth. Steve said this was his first introduction to organized weight training, and he really was impressed when he saw Joe's well developed physique and gym set-up. He began his training then and there - that is, his organized body building activities.

Later when he commenced attending high school he had the good fortune to go to Castlemont High School. This is one of the few public high schools that has weight lifting equipment in its physical training department. Steve, of course, made good use of this equipment in his bodybuilding activities being an ardent enthusiast. Also trained at home and spent much of his leisure time visiting the local gymnasiums.

In seeking expert knowledge and guidance Steve was fortunate in becoming a member of Yarick's body building gymnasium in Oakland. Here he commenced to train under Ed Yarick's expert supervision. At the conclusion of two years of training at Yarick's gym Steve had made outstanding progress and weighed 190 pounds by the time he was eighteen years of age.

Upon graduating from high school in 1944, Steve promptly enlisted in the Army. At that time the soldiers were being shipped overseas quickly and Steve was no exception. After about six weeks of boot training he was sent to the Philippines. Was assigned to the 125th Infantry and took part in the combat on Leyte in the Philippine Islands. Later was presented with a Combat Infantryman's badge and several wards. While in the Philippines Steve suffered a severe attack of malaria. Was obliged to be hospitalized for quite a long time. Lost some 20 pounds in bodyweight. Experienced seven recurrences of the malaria. Was transferred from combat duty in the Infantry to the Quartermaster Corps because of these malaria sieges.

Later Steve went to Japan with the occupation troops. At that time he was recuperating from the malaria attacks, but was still considerably below his normal par physically. Had not had a body building work-out for nearly two years. Soon after he arrived in Japan he located a Japanese interpreter. They went to a local foundry and with the aide of sketches and much hand waiving Steve was able to arrange to have a 300 pound barbell set made up. With this equipment he began to train in Tokyo. Soon had a regular gym and a number of other body builders training with him.

Upon returning to this country in the Fall of last year he was granted his release from the Army. Without any delay he resumed his association at Yarick's physical culture studio in Oakland. From then on he was taking his work-outs three times weekly with Ed Yarick. These exercise session continued as regular as clock-work until one day in December Steve failed to appear for a work-out. Ed was puzzled by his absence for he knew Steve was again in tip top shape physically so it was very unlikely that he was ill. On Tuesday of the following week when it was time for another regular session Steve appeared at the gym with two large trophies. Had won these in the "Mr. Pacific Coast" contest held in Portland, Oregon that Saturday when he was absent from the gym. Kept his plans for participation in that contest a secret. Told only his mother and a training pal about his plans. We were very pleasantly surprised to learn of his competing in this event in this unexpected manner. But we were most certainly not surprised that Steve was victorious in this major physique competition.

After winning the title "Mr. Pacific Coast" Steve suddenly came into the foreground among the outstanding body builders on the Pacific Cast. Rave reports in praise of Steve, which were justified, commenced to circulate. Even though he had not reached his peak at that time it was freely predicted by many experts that Steve was the best candidate for the "Mr. America" title this year.

The victory in the "Mr. Pacific Coast" contest last December spurred Steve on to train even more intensively than before in an effort to make the best possible showing in the forthcoming "Mr. America" competition. Due to a misunderstanding Steve did not participate in the "Mr. California" contest in January of this year. He thought that he was ineligible because of winning the "Mr. Pacific Coast" title less than a month earlier. Learned that he was eligible when it was too late to arrange to enter in this event. On May 24th of this year Steve took part in his second physique contest. It was the 1947 "Mr. Pacific Coast" competition and Steve retained his title. Besides being victorious in the main event he also won three other prizes for the special events: best arm development, best chest development and best leg development. After this series of successes Steve was certainly ready for the "Mr. America" contest that he had been training so earnestly and intensively for.

Steve's mother has been an indispensable and invaluable aid to his body building progress. Not only has she encouraged her son in his athletic endeavors but she has cooperated to the fullest with him in this connection. The meals she prepares for Steve are wholesome ones providing an abundance of nourishing foods. He is especially fond of salads, vegetables and fresh fruit. Consumes more than a quart of milk daily. Steve is health conscious and does not eat products containing devitalized white flour or refined white sugar. He uses honey as a substitute for sugar. Steve's teeth are perfect enough for dental advertisements. His teeth are entirely free of cavities and this can to a large degree be attributed to his healthful dietary habits.

Shortly before making the trip to Chicago, Steve visited with Les and Pudgy Stockton at their home in Santa Monica, California. Since that visit we have heard praise galore from Steve regarding Pudgy's ability as a cook in preparing delicious meals that adhere to physical culture standards.

Steve's training program is an extensive and very strenuous one. Adheres to a three work-out periods per week schedule. Has no favorite exercise but employs a broad well balanced program. Thus far he has not endeavored to become proficient in the three Olympic lifts. However, the very heavy poundages that he employs in bodybuilding movements provide plenty of evidence that he is exceptionally powerful. Below I am concisely describing the exercise program that Steve performs in his training sessions at Yarick's gym. It is arranged in sections so as to indicate the particular involvement of the exercises on certain muscles. Here are the exercises the current "Mr. America" performs regularly.

Pectorals: (a) Wide arm prone press with barbell weighing about 215 pounds - with the hands spread wide enough to touch the collars on an Olympic set. 3 sets, 10 to 12 reps. (b)Wide arm incline bench press, 3 sets, 10 to 12 reps.

Deltoids: 2 sets each of (a) front raise, (b) side raise, and (c) curl and press, all with 65-pound dumbells, 10 reps., and decreasing by 5-pound jumps to 50 pounds, 10 reps. each weight per set. This progressively decreasing weights in continued reps. of one movement is quite a common system among body builders on the Pacific Coast.

Latissimus: (a) Using 225 pounds on the overhead pulley, sitting on a stool with someone to hold him down, he performs 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps. pulling the bar down behind neck. (b) 3 sets of about 15 reps. in the rowing motion, using the 45 degree pulley overhead with 150 pounds.

Triceps: (a) The curl behind neck with a 70-pound dumbell held in both hands; 2 sets of 10 reps. (The dumbell is held at arms' length overhead in both hands, then the elbows are bent allowing it to drop behind the neck, and then the arms are raised, and so on.) (b) the triceps bench curl with 45-pound dumbell in each hand, 2 sets of 10 reps. Note: At times the progressively decreasing weight plan is applied to these two exercises.

Biceps: incline bench curl, done on a special bench with a bar mounted under it so the arms (elbows) rest on it, to prevent "cheating." 6 sets, 10 reps. alternately, beginning at 65 pounds, dropping 5 pounds each set to 50 pounds, then staying at 50 pounds.

Thighs: (a) Squats on a 3-inch high block, with a 150-pound barbell held in the clean position at shoulder level, 15 reps., 3 sets. He is careful to point the toes straight forward in performing this squatting movements. (b) 4 sets of leg biceps curls.

Calves: Toe Raises using leg press machine, 20 reps. each, 4 sets, starting with 400 pounds, then 350, then 300 and concluding with 250 pounds.

Back: 2 sets of "good morning exercise" on the Roman chair to develop the lower back. Of course, the latissimus exercises are also for the back muscles.

I am listing Steve's "before" and after measurements. The "before" ones were when he first commenced to train at Yarick's gym when 16 years of age. The after measurements are recent ones.

In the "Mr. America" physique competition, Steve Reeves' success was identical to his predecessor's, Alan Stephan, in several respects. Both Steve and Al received a total of 72 out of a pissble 75 points in winning the title. In the judging for the "Most Muscular Man" title they both were a very close second. Last year Stephan won the award for the Best Back Development and this year Reeves won it.

Since acquiring the "Mr. America" title Steve has had an extremely busy schedule in Chicago. Has been swamped with requests for public appearances. Though Steve is inclined to be a bit shy he is very co-operative in his attitude, especially in encouraging youngsters in body building. Recently he appeared on a network radio show, Ladies Be Seated, as a guest star. Was interviewed on this program by Johnny Olson, master of ceremonies for the show. Also answered four questions put to him by four selected ladies from the audience, and also showed them his muscles (stripped to the waist), to the accompaniment of many "oohs" and "aahs" from the females in the audience. Had an interview with pictures with an Associated Press features reporter, and another with an International News Service reporter. Made an impromptu stage appearance at the Chicago Theatre after visiting Hildegarde who was being featured at this leading theatre. Steve really "clicked" with the audience for he has a magnetic personality. Much credit is due Dick Trusdell for his expert assistance and invaluable guidance in connection with the excellent and extensive publicity that Steve Reeves is being given.

Recently Steve returned to his home in Oakland. Made the trip from Chicago via United Airlines. Is resuming his training activities at Yarick's gym. It is expected that in the near future he will go to his uncle's ranch in Montana and spend a vacation session there which, of course, will include a lot of horse back riding. Even when he is away from home on trips he does not neglect his training activities. While in Chicago he exercised regularly at the Lawson "Y" gym and at the various local beaches.

Right now Steve's plans for the future are note definite. He is very conscious of the responsibilities attached to the "Mr. America" title and intends to arrange his plans so as to fulfill these responsibilities and help to the best of ability in promoting the body building and physical culture movement. In the short period of time that has elapsed since Steve won the "Mr. America" title he has done a great deal to help stimulate greater public interest through the medium of good publicity. Knowing that Steve has high ideals, besides being intelligent and conscientious, we are confident that he will accomplish a tremendous amount of good in behalf of the physical culture movement. Steve Reeves is an ideal "Mr. America" and we know that he will continue to add to his laurels.

(Editor's note: - We wish to acknowledge with our thanks the kind cooperation of Dick Trusdell of Evanston, Illinois, in providing us with data pertaining to Steve Reeves and some excellent photos of Steve. In this issue we are utilizing much of the information Trusdell provided and also publishing several of the photos he furnished.)

Photo Captions

The facial handsomeness of STEVE REEVES, which registers character and intelligence of a high order, is very evident in this fine portait study taken by Paul Stone of Raymor Studios in Chicago.

Shortly before STEVE REEVES came to Chicago to Participate in the "Mr. America" contest CECIL CHARLES, the famed West Coast Photographer, took a number of out of door photos of him. This magnificent study of the new "Mr. America" was selected from that group.

The superb leg development of the 1947 "Mr. America" is seen to advantage in this impressive pose. Photo by Constantine of Los Angeles, Calif.

This superlative back pose of the current "Mr. America" title holder, STEVE REEVES from Oakland, California, has unusual artistic merits besides being a remarkable display of muscularity and symmetry. TONY LANZA, the outstanding Canadian physique photographer, took this admirable photo of Reeves at the lake front in Chicago prior to the contest.

This excellent back pose of STEVE REEVES, a member of Yarick's Oakland, California Gymnasium, was taken just a day or two before the most important physique contest of the year was held in Chicago. It serves as evidence that the new "Mr. America" is ideally qualified for possessing this title. Photo by Tony Lanza, Montreal, Canada.

ALAN STEPHAN, the "Mr. America" of 1946, after congratulating his worthy successor, STEVE REEVES, posed together with him soon after the contest terminated. Photo by Mason Pawlak of Detroit.